Ford Star Jubilee
CBS (ended 1956)
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Season 1
11/3/56The final Ford Star Jubilee was the first television broadcast of the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz. The show was expanded to two hours and Bert Lahr was engaged to host with assistance from 10 year old Liza Minnelli and Justin G. Schiller, a 13 year old Oz expert. CBS paid MGM for the right to show the film twice at $225,000 each airing. The broadcast was a ratings smash. CBS showed it again December 13, 1959 (Red Skelton and his daughter Valentina hosting) in an earlier time slot and it was an even bigger hit. CBS exercised its options ($200,000 each for four more broadcasts) for further airings in what became a TV tradition. Later hosts included Richard Boone and his son Peter (1960), Dick Van Dyke and his children (1961-62), and Danny Kaye (1964-67).moreless
10/6/56Musical salute to Cole Porter. Songs included: Another Op'nin', Another Show-Entire Cast/Anything Goes-Don Crichton & Dancers/You Do Something to Me-Dorothy Dandridge/In the Still of the Night-Gordon MacRae & Shirley Jones/You're the Top-Peter Lind Hayes & Mary Healy/Let's Do It-Dolores Gray & George Sanders/Night and Day-George Chakiris & Sally Forrest/Thank You So Much, Mrs. Lowsborough Goodby-George Sanders/C'est Magnifique-George Sanders/Blow, Gabriel, Blow-Louis Armstrong/My Heart Belongs to Daddy-Dorothy Dandridge & Dancers Kiss Me Kate Sequence: Always True to You in My Fashion-Dolores Gray /So In Love-Gordon MacRae/I Hate Men-Shirley Jones/Wunderbar-Gordon MacRae & Shirley Jones/Operetta Parody-Peter Lind Hayes & Mary Healy/Medley:I Get a Kick Out of You/Why Can't You Behave/Down in the Depths/Just One of Those Things-Dolores Gray/I Love You-Gordon MacRae/Begin the Beguine-Gordon MacRae with Sally Forrest & George Chakiris/Now You Has Jazz-Bing Crosby & Louis Armstrong/Well, Did You Evah!-Cole Porter & Cast/Finale-Castmoreless
6/2/56US Army Major Joppolo is a civil government administration officer assigned to restore government in a small town in Italy at the end of World War II. He grows to understand that public administration is more than the delivery of services. It also, he discovers, is the fulfillment of the non-tangible needs of the citizenry as well. In this case, before the war the town had had a bell whose ringing provided the markers for the routines and cycles of daily life. Joppolo realizes the importance of reinstalling a bell as a symbol of the restoration of peacetime life in the town. He struggles, successfully, to locate and then obtain a bell from a US Navy ship. Thanks to him, the town is able to return to its antebellum state. Songs by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz included: A Bell for Adano / Fish / I'm Part of You / Okay, Mister Major. A song titled Why Not Surrender was written but not used.moreless
5/5/56Noel Coward's salute to the English people shows how an ordinary family lived between the wars. Just after WWI the Gibbons family moves to a nice house in the suburbs. An ordinary sort of life is led by the family through the years with average number of triumphs and disasters until the outbreak of WWII.moreless
4/7/56When Oscar Jaffe, a brilliant but eccentric Broadway impresario, boards the 20th Century Limited in Chicago, he makes sure that his compartment adjoins that of the tempestuous movie queen Lily Garland. For the object of his trip is to get Lily's signature on a contract before the train reaches New York. The situation is complicated by the fact that Jaffe's creditors are breathing hot down his neck and a Broadway play with Lily as star can bail him out. In addition, Oscar's interest in Lily was, at one time, more than professional. But now the relationship between the two temperamental artists is something less than cordial.moreless
3/10/56Van Van Dorn is torn between his love of his fiancee Judith and a mountain, High Tor, which he owns. His fiancee breaks their engagement when Van refuses to sell the mountain to a pair of real estate swindlers. A rockfall traps Van and the realtors overnight on the mountain, which turns out to be haunted by a Dutch ghost sailor crew from the 1600s and a beautiful Dutch girl Lise, who encourages Van to fight for the mountain. Songs included: Living One Day at a Time / When You're in Love - Bing Crosby / Sad is the Life of a Sailor's Wife - Julie Andrews / When You're in Love - Everett Sloane & Julie Andrews / A Little Love, A Little While - Bing Crosby / When You're in Love (reprise) -Everett Sloane / John Barleycorn - Bing Crosby / Once Upon a Long Ago - Julie Andrews / Once Upon a Long Ago - Bing Crosby / John Barleycorn - Bing Crosby & chorus / A Little Love, A Little While (reprise) - Bing Crosby. Music and lyrics by Arthur Schwartz and Maxwell Anderson. The music was conducted by Joseph J. Lilley.moreless
2/11/56The story begins with President Lincoln at 7 a.m. Friday, April 14, 1865 and ends the next day at 7:22 a.m. when he is pronounced dead by Surgeon General Barnes. In between a number of other related and momentous events of Lincoln's last day are depicted including a meeting with General Grant, his last Cabinet session, the assasins completing their preparations, and the actors and management of Ford's Theatre arranging to receive the Presidential party.moreless
1/14/56Charles Condomine is a writer living in the English countryside with his second wife Ruth. He's researching a book involving metaphysics and invites a medium, Madame Arcati, to his home for dinner and a seance. The ghost of his first wife Elvira is summoned and she proceeds to wreak havoc with his present wife.moreless
12/17/55The Walt Whitman poem "I Hear America Singing" is used to tell the story of the United States in song. Over fifty songs are presented, ranging from "Yankee Doodle" to contemporary music.
11/19/55A dramatization of the trial of Lieutenant Maryk for his role in the Caine mutiny against the paranoiac Captain Queeg.
10/22/55Musical revue. Songs included: Together With Music-Martin & Coward/Uncle Harry, Nina, Mad Dogs and Englishmen-Coward/I Only Have Eves For You, I Get A Kick Out of You, Les Filles de Cadix-Martin/90 Minutes Is A Long, Long Time-Martin & Coward/I'll See You Again, Dance Little Lady, Poor Little Rich Girl, Room With A View, Someday I'll Find You, I'll Follow My Secret Heart, If Love Were All, Play Orchestra Play-Coward/South Pacific Medley: Dites Moi, Cockeyed Optimist, Some Enchanted Evening, Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair, Wonderful Guy-Martin/My Heart Belongs to Daddy-Martin/World Weary, What's Going to Happen to the Tots-Coward/London Pride-Martin/Deep In The Heart of Texas-Coward/Get Out Those Old Records, They Didn't Believe Me, 'SWonderful, Time On My Hands, I Didn't Know What Time It Was, Anything Goes, Dancing In The Dark, Ballerina, I Won't Dance, Papa, Won't You Dance With Me?, Charleston, The Way You Look Tonight, You're An Old Smoothie, Young and Foolish, Always True To You In My Fashion, Stumbling, Japanese Sandman, Shall We Dance?, Continental-Martin & Coward. Tutti Camarata conducted the orchestra with Peter Matz at the piano.morelessNEXT EPISODE AIRS 9/24/1955 AT 9:30PM ON CBS
9/24/55Musical variety with Judy Garland in her TV debut as a performer. Songs included: You Made Me Love You-Garland/Swanee-Garland/Palace Medley: Shine On, Harvest Moon/Some of These Days/My Man/I Don't Care-Garland/Japanese song-Sawamura/It's De-Lovely-Garland, Wayne, Sawamura/This is the Time of the Evening-Garland/While We're Young-Garland/Medley: But Not for Me-Garland/For Me and My Gal-Garland & Wayne/The Boy Next Door-Garland/The Trolley Song-Garland & Escorts/Rock-A-Bye Your Baby-Garland//Get Happy-Garland/The Man That Got Away-Garland/A Couple of Swells-Garland & Wayne/Over the Rainbow-Garland.moreless
